And she was woefully over her head when she first stepped into Death Row in Lousiana to talk to a man set to be executed.

It wasn't until her third visit with Patrick Sonnier, with whom she had become pen pals, that she learned what he had been accused of, convicted of and for that crime, set to be executed.

But what she did know, Prejean told a group of about 200 at Truman State, was that Sonnier was a human, no matter what, right up until he was killed by the State of Louisiana.

The author and anti-capital punishment advocate spoke at Truman of her fight against the death penalty over more than two decades, of her 1993 book "Dead Man Walking" and how it was made into a Hollywood film featuring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.

It was a journey, she said at Baldwin Auditorium with the local Amnesty International chapter, of both her efforts across the nation and of turning her early experiences with Sonnier into a movie.

The story of that journey involves death row inmates, the victims and victims' families, state employees and the witnesses to state-sanctioned murder, Prejean said.

"We are all worth more than the worst thing we've ever done," she argued.

Prejean spent little time discounting death penalty advocates, stating simply that no matter what, a human is a human and to "rip something from the fabric of life" is a terrible thing.

"Human beings are asked to play God," she said, of jurors, judges, correctional employees and the execution team.

But at the same time, it is understandable to be angry or outraged at a person for their crimes.

Sonnier, the subject of Prejean's first book, was convicted of murder and rape. Prejean said she was outraged when she first learned the man she was serving as spiritual adviser had taken two young lives.

But she didn't believe putting him to death would resolve or absolve anything.

"We have to choose another way," she said. "Victims' families are saying, 'Don't kill for us.'"

In the end, as Sonnier would look Prejean in the eyes as the fatal amounts of electricity coursed through his body, she would believe he may not have committed the crime. Regardless of guilt, she would never stop fighting for him on the basis of human rights.

"Even when guilty of terrible crimes, they have a dignity," Prejean said. "But it's really about us. This is about us as a society."

Prejean's visit was at the same time as Missouri is slated to carry out its 71st execution, with Herbert Smulls set to be executed by lethal injection Jan. 29.

Page 2 of 2 - The procedure is to be carried out in Bonne Terre, hundreds of miles from Kirksville, but Prejean urged the mostly student group to stand up for human dignity.

"You won't be close to him," she said. "But we need citizens to stand up," urging participants get involved with the group Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

The Smulls execution comes at the same time as Missouri's death penalty drug and procedures are under fire for both use and sourcing.

Smulls will be Missouri's third execution in the past three months.

An October 2013 Gallup poll found 60 percent of respondents favored the death penalty for convicted murderers. It was the lowest amount of support Gallup measured since 1972. Support peaked at 80 percent in 1994.